Duck And Cover, Obama-Style

Nuclear Terror: During the long Cold War, liberals said atomic bombs were non-survivable and so we had to negotiate disarmament. Today, the Obama administration says cheer up, you might survive.

Some on the left still haven't recovered from President Reagan's joke during a radio sound check in 1984 that "I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever; we begin bombing in five minutes."

Leftist journalist Robert Scheer's 1982 book, "With Enough Shovels: Reagan, Bush and Nuclear War," took its title from the Reagan administration's supposedly ludicrous belief that civil defense could save lives in a nuclear war.

Scheer, then with the Los Angeles Times and now editor-in-chief of the Web magazine Truthdig, interviewed Pentagon official T.K. Jones for the book. "You can make very good sheltering by taking the doors off your house, digging a trench, stacking the doors about two deep over that . . . covering it with plastic ... then pile dirt over it." Jones said. "If there are enough shovels to go around, everybody's going to make it."

Also in 1982, the black humor documentary "Atomic Cafe" was released, featuring 1950s government footage about civil defense, including the infamous "duck and cover" film telling schoolchildren to get under their desks as soon as they see a nuclear flash.

The message was clear: The Reagan administration was as nuts as George C. Scott's Gen. Buck Turgidson character in "Dr. Strangelove." "I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed," the general told President Merkin Muffley. "But I do say no more than 10 to 20 million killed, tops!"

All these years later, with the Cold War long over thanks to Reagan, a Democratic president is now telling the American people that with enough shovels, they can "absorb" a nuke.

In July, as recounted in Bob Woodward's book "Obama's Wars," the president told Woodward: "We can absorb a terrorist attack."

This week, the New York Times told us that W. Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is educating the public about preparedness regarding atomic explosions. "We have to get past the mental block that says it's too terrible to think about," Fugate said of a possible terrorist nuclear attack.

Other Obama officials told the Times that the public has "an unrealistic sense of fatalism about a terrorist nuclear attack." One official "deeply involved in the planning, who spoke on the condition of anonymity," said: "It's more survivable than most people think."

See Also

The Republican majority's budget plan — enacted in a blitz of votes before lawmakers rushed home for spring break — tells us which Republican presidential hopefuls are serious about halting the nation's soaring debt. Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky voted against the ...

Regulation: A public Consumer Complaint Database solicits anonymous, unverified gripes against banks from consumers at the behest of Acorn front groups — despite studies showing such complaints are mostly baseless.The administration says the government-sponsored rumor mill is designed to ...

Iran: At the eleventh hour before the Tuesday deadline, Tehran negotiators predictably changed positions and demanded new concessions. Unfortunately, unlike Ronald Reagan, President Obama won't be walking away. As the world's leading terrorist sponsor state, which for years has sought nuclear ...

Propaganda: The overreaction by politicians and advocacy groups to Indiana's religious freedom law is distressing enough. Worse is the fact that big companies are now amplifying the disinformation campaign.Apple CEO Tim Cook wasn't the only business executive to condemn Indiana's law, but he was ...

Presidential hopeful Bobby Jindal is taking heat for proposing barring foreigners for belief in "radical Islam." But even the Obama administration is having to "raise awareness" about "child abuse" tied to such immigration and belief. "We shouldn't tolerate those who want to come and try to impose ...

Select market data is provided by Interactive Data Corp. Real Time Services. Price and Volume data is delayed 20 minutes unless otherwise noted, is believed accurate but is not warranted or guaranteed by Interactive Data Corp. Real Time Services and is subject to Interactive Data Corp. Real Time Services terms. All times are Eastern United States. *Reflects real-time index prices.